Sew fun!

An under-appreciated and oft-overlooked skill is sewing. I wish that I had the option to learn to sew in addition to the introductory cooking lessons in junior high home economics. Luckily, I learned to hand sew during arts and crafts in sixth grade (with some tips from my mother) but I never had the privilege of learning to sew on a machine. A few months ago, after much debate and research, and just a few borrowed experiences on my MIL's machine, I bought myself a sewing machine. Out of the box, it was/is so fun to see things come together within hours. I still have much to learn, but I love that the machine sews faster, neater, better, and more variety of stitches than I could ever achieve by hand.

Singer® Touch & Sew (TM) 7462 Electronic Sewing Machine

Recently, rather than dreaming up projects and trying to execute them with scribbled calculations and diagrams, I started to follow the Sewing for Dummies book. I was previously just using it as a reference guide because the projects seem dated and a bit quirky (some pictures remind me of tacky flea market sells). But within the dated projects and mostly black and white instructions, there are a lot of tips, tricks, and basic sewing knowledge to be had. I am slowly cobbling together sewing skills!

Even though things still don't come out perfectly, it is much easier (with better results) to follow step-by-step instructions than to do things my way (at least for now, while I don't have much experience). And I would've never imagined how much goes into getting good results (like the need for ironing before turning a piece inside out). Now the next step is to move somewhere where I can have a sewing room -- constantly moving things onto and off the dining table is getting old.

Eggs-citing

My friend passed on a recipe from Chinese Feasts and Festivals (a Cookbook) since I mentioned in a previous post that I wanted to make my own Salted Preserved Eggs after receiving a pair from my aunt-in-law.

Salted Preserved Eggs
1 cup (300g) coarse sea salt
1 tablespoon peppercorns
6 cups (1 1/2 liters) water
2 tablespoons rice wine
10 duck or chicken eggs, cleaned

1) Combine salt, peppercorns, water, rice wine in a large pot. Heat over low heat, stirring constantly until salt has dissolved (about 5 min). Remove and set aside to cool
2) When cool, pour brine into a clean, non-metallic jar (a glass, ceramic or earthenware jar). Carefully lower the eggs into the brine, making sure the eggs are totally immersed. Cover the jar and leave at room temperature for 30 days.
3) After 30 days, the salted preserved eggs are ready to be used. Remove the eggs from the jar and dry on a rack. Store the dried eggs in a cool, dry place.

After I got the email from my friend, I immediately rushed to make this. It has been almost 2 weeks and the brine (possibly the eggs too) has changed slightly in color. The brine is also cloudy. I'm worried because there is some sediment that has settled to the bottom of the jar. I wonder if it's related to my halving the recipe (wasn't sure if I'd like it, and Dear doesn't like this, so I just made 5). Guess I won't know until another 2 weeks.